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Friday, May 15, 2009

C'est la vie!

Got back from my initial D.C. visit last night. I drove there Monday, stayed Tuesday-Wednesday, left Thursday morning, home Thursday evening. Moved most of my stuff into Katie and Rachel's apartment in Old Town, hung out with friends at GW, and got my car towed. That led to me NOT leaving on Wednesday as planned, but rather spent the majority of Wednesday running around the city to pay my fee, find my car, get keys from Rachel so that I could finish unpacking (I had left a few things in the car since it had been raining so heavily when I initially got into Old Town), drive to Old Town, etc. I am now more or less settled, and I got to enjoy the beautiful mid-Atlantic/ Midwest scenery on the way back (I've decided WV is vastly underrated). I shall take the train back next Friday, around 3:26 in the morning.This past trip to DC was an adventure to say the least, and I can't deny I had fun (minus the money I dropped on the ticket). I hailed my first taxi (one of the three I would ride in that day), ate a hot dog from a street vendor for lunch (Julia Spiotta and I hold a special place in our hearts for those hot dogs since our hot dog endeavors during the 2009 March For Life, although I talked to her on the phone last night, and she has since forbidden me to eat any more hot dogs without her, which will be virtually impossible), and got the chance to spend more time with people. I especially enjoyed talking with Rachel and Katie--to quote Katie, during one of our gabfests, "We are going to get along famously!" Not that we didn't get along before; they obviously liked me enough to invite me to live with them before this...but I really am excited to live with such two wonderful, beautiful women. And they're Kappas :)I got an e-mail last week from the Times confirming my internship and asking for start and end dates, as well as contact information and the whole she-bang. I of course e-mailed back right away, and asked them about Memorial Day, since that is the day I am supposed to start work. I told them it wouldn't be a problem, I would be there. I got the following response:Julie:Your eagerness is commendable, but no one will be here on Memorial Day to process you and get you started in the Books section. Please make Tuesday,May 26, the first day of your internship. Thanks.Ha! So I guess things are looking good from both ends. I also got a message on FaceBook from Amanda, who runs the CN (the organization I got my internship through and who helps fund the Hillsdale Forum, the paper I co-run on campus), and she told me she ran into Tracy (the director of the Dow Journalism program/ my teacher and writing mentor) at a Phillips Foundation dinner, and they discussed how perfect the Books section is for me! It really is. It's neat that Amanda talked to Tracy, because he's the one who "taught" me how to write a book review (I don't think writing can truly be taught, because everyone has a different style, but in this case, he formally exposed me to the art, opposed to, say, what Dad did, which was just giving me the Financial Times book reviews to pore over and read. Tracy gave me specific feedback for my own writing of reviews.). The other neat thing is that I am starting the Book Review section in The Collegian, the school paper. I've contacted three other girls to help me write the section since A) I can't do it by myself (nor should the section by Julie Robison's Thoughts On This Book)B) The girls (whom I picked based on their interest in publishing after college, as I am) get experience writing book reviews, which I think will be excellent for their resumes and will give them a leg up when it comes to a job after college.C) The Collegian needs more culture in its paper. This is perfect!D) Clips, clips, clips.Anyways, I now have a little less than a week before I return to D.C. I am very, very excited. This is going to be a great summer. I'm starting to write out my to-do list for D.C. because I all ready forgot my pillows in Cincinnati, and it is going to be no bueno if I forget other important things in the Nasti when I am across PA-WV-MD in VA. This weekend is my brother's Midwest Regatta, which I am excited about, but Dad signed me up to work long shifts, so that depletes my excitement for sure. I was supposed to get lunch with Bianca today, but I had to get into work (I was all ready running late--slept in, had to do chores around the house for Mom, walk Heidi), so we're going to do that next week. Besl and I are most likely going to get Chipotle for dinner and then bum over to Ault Park, where we traditionally sit on the steps of the pavilion overlooking the park and enjoy watching our fellow Hyde Parkians while discussing life. I got a call from Bromley today, which was nice since I shan't be seeing her till August. The twins shall also not be in my summer since they won't get back from SLU till June, and even then, they're going back for an internship and summer classes. Davey promised me a phone call and Andykins woke me up at 4-something this morning with his text. But Jimmy, Jeff, and Claire and I are going to get together on Sunday (whoops--Sunday dinner with the family--I'll have to call Jeff back), and I'm sure there are more people available for shenanigans around Mt. Lookout. Oh joy! So many people, not enough time. (I suppose there is August, but who wants to wait that long?)Finally, someone in my house took my copy of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. I want it back. I want to re-read it before I go to DC! I suspect Death, Doom, and Destruction will quickly follow if I do not find this book, along with a feeling of unfinished business.Here is a Waugh quote to end the post. It comes from Put Out More Flags:"Basil lay back on the divan and watched her with fascination. This was how he liked to see women behave in moments of alarm. He rejoiced, always, in the spectacle of women at a disadvantage: thus he would watch, in the asparagus season, a dribble of melted butter on a woman's chin, marring her beauty and making her ridiculous, while she would talk and smile and turn her head, not knowing how she appeared to him."